Well, you ve done enough. Here I go over to Sereny Harper, like an old
softy, expecting I m going to make her believe all that rubbage about
that dream, when lo and behold you she d found out from Joe that you was
over here and heard all the talk we had that night. Tom, I don t know
what is to become of a boy that will act like that. It makes me feel so
bad to think you could let me go to Sereny Harper and make such a fool
of myself and never say a word.
This was a new aspect of the thing. His smartness of the morning had
seemed to Tom a good joke before, and very ingenious. It merely looked
mean and shabby now. He hung his head and could not think of anything to
say for a moment. Then he said:
Auntie, I wish I hadn t done it but I didn t think.
Oh, child, you never think. You never think of anything but your
own selfishness. You could think to come all the way over here from
Jackson s Island in the night to laugh at our troubles, and you could
think to fool me with a lie about a dream; but you couldn t ever think
to pity us and save us from sorrow.
Auntie, I know now it was mean, but I didn t mean to be mean. I didn t,
honest. And besides, I didn t come over here to laugh at you that
night.
What did you come for, then?
It was to tell you not to be uneasy about us, because we hadn t got
drownded.
Tom, Tom, I would be the thankfullest soul in this world if I could
believe you ever had as good a thought as that, but you know you never
did and I know it, Tom.
Indeed and deed I did, auntie I wish I may never stir if I didn t.
Oh, Tom, don t lie don t do it. It only makes things a hundred times
worse.
It ain t a lie, auntie; it s the truth. I wanted to keep you from
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